Latest news with #Clary
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
How City-Wide Travel Is Being Made More Accessible
Beyond its bicycles and boats, this Dutch capital city sees half a million daily trips on its trains. Find out how a seamless tap-in, tap-out city-wide system is making it easier than ever for people like 90-year-old Clary to explore her favourite city. Mastercard has been transforming transit in cities across the globe, making it easier for riders to get from A to B with just a simple tap. Nowhere is that more prominently on display than in the Netherlands, one of the first countries to launch nationwide contactless acceptance – meaning you can board a train with what's already in your wallet, no paper tickets required. Mastercard worked with BBC Storyworks and C40 Cities as part of their 'Transforming Cities' series to spotlight Amsterdam's journey toward frictionless, more sustainable urban mobility. The short film follows Clary, a 90-year-old native of the Netherlands, and her granddaughter Lotty as they navigate the city using the country's' nationwide open-loop transit system—enabled by Mastercard. Their story is a powerful reminder of how inclusive, accessible technology can connect generations and communities the freedom to travel seamlessly, priceless! About Mastercard Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we're building a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Watch the full film here Follow along Mastercard's journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Mastercard
NBC News
24-05-2025
- NBC News
Mother of murdered son in gay bar slayings finds long-awaited peace in sentencing
A mother finally rests Umberger, a former political consultant, moved to New York several weeks before his death for his job at a nonprofit. Although he was relatively new to the city, he quickly developed a list of favorite restaurants he shared with his mom, including Minetta Tavern, the Waverly Inn and Lil' Frankies. Clary marked Wednesday's sentencing at one of her son's favorite spots, the French restuarant La Goulue, surrounded by dozens of his friends and family. The restaurant is located across the street from the Upper East Side townhouse where Umberger lived—and were he tragically died. "John was so excited about taking on New York City. And in some ways, ironically with what happened, even though he is not physically here, he took on New York City and he won. It just cost him his life," she added. Clary said that one of the most challenging moments throughout the last three years was watching surveillance footage shown during the trail of her son leaving a Hell Kitchen's gay bar on the night he died. The footage showed Umberger leaving The Q NYC alone in a car and then returning several minutes later for unknown reasons. He was then seen departing the front of the bar with the men later found guilty for his murder, Hamilton and DeMaio. "There was something that kept drawing John back to the front of that club. It's almost like you want to jump out of the seat and scream 'stop John! Go back home' and it didn't happen," she said. "Seeing how vulnerable he was and by himself. He seemed quite happy to go off with his new friends." Umberger's friends — a diverse group of men and women spanning several generations — described him as a "connector," someone who can light up a room and befriend any stranger. At Wednesday's hearing, Neil Chatterjee, one of Umberger's friends, reflected on Umberger's friendly nature. "You didn't have to kill him, You didn't even have to rob him. If you needed money, he would have given it to you. He would have hung out with you," he said. "Instead you chose to go down the malicious path and now your lives are forever ruined." Clary returned home to North Carolina later this week. She said she plans to visit New York periodically and volunteer her time to the LGBTQ community in the near future. But for now, she will be spending time with her three other adult children, enjoying her new grandchildren and taking care of her 95 year old father, she said. After three years traveling back and forth to New York, pressing local officials and advocating for her son in the media, Clary also plans to rest. "There is no doubt in my mind that I will be together with John again," Clary said. "God is taking a bad, evil thing that happened and making good out of it," she added.
New York Post
22-05-2025
- New York Post
Miranda Devine: Anguished mom gets justice after refusing to stay silent about gang preying on young gay men
It was the almost perfect crime. Hell's Kitchen gay bars wanted to keep it quiet so customers weren't scared away. New York Democrats wanted to keep it quiet to downplay law-and-order issues before a crucial gubernatorial election in November 2022. The cops were already overwhelmed with crime and struggling with the aftermath of COVID and 'Defund the Police' madness. Advertisement But the mother of one of the victims, Linda Clary, refused to be quiet. She knew that there was a gang preying on young gay men in Hell's Kitchen. She didn't want anyone else to die like her son John Umberger, 33, had died in the early hours of May 29, 2022, drugged with fentanyl, his final moments captured by his snickering killers on a 14-second video that sealed their fate. Clary refused to remain silent and came to The Post to warn the gay community of predators on the prowl. Advertisement She was blessed with one detective who joined the dots between her son's murder and the similar unsolved death of Julio Ramirez, 25, who had been found dead in a cab a month earlier after being drugged and robbed. In the end, Detective Randy Rose and his partner, Detective Alex Argiro, cracked the case of the gay-bar 'roofie' killers, interviewed dozens of living victims, and put five of the predators behind bars. Jayqwan Hamilton, 37, Robert Demaio, 36, and Jacob Barroso, 32, were convicted of murder, robbery, burglary, and conspiracy to rob and drug people outside Manhattan nightclubs, which led to the deaths of Umberger and Ramirez. 40-to-life for killers On Wednesday, Hamilton and Demaio were sentenced to 40 years to life while Barroso was sentenced to 20 years to life. Advertisement In March, two other men in the case, Shane Hoskins and Andre Butts, were sentenced to eight years in jail for their roles in the scheme. During the investigation, police realized there was a second criminal gang preying on revelers at bars on the Lower East Side around the same time using similar methods. Prosecutors say Kenwood Allen, who has pleaded not guilty, killed four people in 15 days. He allegedly drugged his victims with fentanyl before stealing their credit cards and leaving them for dead on the street. One of those victims was Lady Gaga's fashion designer Kathryn Gallagher, 35. 'This was a cold and calculated pattern,' said New York Criminal Court Judge Felicia Mennin before handing down the sentences to a courtroom packed with the victims' family and friends Wednesday. 'I pity your lack of humanity and empathy for your fellow human beings.' Advertisement As Clary sat in court surrounded by friends, she felt gratitude. The trial had been an ordeal, with the video of her son dying shown to the jury along with a longer video of the killers toasting each other as they celebrated in the Upper East Side townhouse Umberger had just moved into to begin his new life in New York. The gregarious Washington, DC, political consultant had last used his credit card that night at the Q NYC, a multistory gay nightclub on Eighth Avenue. His body was not found for four days. This photo provided by Linda Clary shows her son John Umberger at a rooftop bar in New York, on May 27, 2022. AP As excruciating as it was to watch her son die on screen, she says the video '100% made an impact on the jury . . . Just the depraved indifference to human life . . . To snicker, toast and laugh and not skip a beat before they went out to buy tennis shoes . . . They kept it on their phones, fortunately, and it was used as evidence. They had no shame.' She wanted to get into the witness box Wednesday and explain what John meant to her, the four days of silence after he went missing, and the silence she lives with now. But she choked up and instead read aloud excerpts of some of the myriad victim impact statements his friends and family had lodged with the court. 'It was truly a beautiful thing but so tragic,' she said. These were some of the tributes to John and reproaches to his killers given to the court: 'John was the kind of person who actually lit up a room,' said family friend Tracy Coll West. 'He dripped with optimism, goodness and the kind of love that comes straight from God. I don't mean that figuratively, he had a light around him that you could actually see . . . At his funeral, his mother mentioned that she had found thank you letters that John had written to God.' Advertisement John's biological father, Alick Campbell, who flew in from the UK: 'I will say this, only because his mother may not feel able to mention it. In all my 60 years — I have never met a son who was more dutiful or loving of his mother than John was. He would call her most days — he was always there for her — in moments of joy and especially when life threw it difficulties in her way. He was her rock and gave her as solid a love as any human is capable of — which leaves such an unfathomable hole.' 'Uncaring. Unmoved' Eolene Boyd, John's godmother, said: 'No mother should have to think about their child, their larger-than-life first-born, being left to die. Alone. Without those who loved him to be with him as he breathed his last. Instead, surrounded by people robbing him of his life and belongings and dignity. Uncaring. Unmoved by another person's plight and struggle to continue to live. This callousness is unfathomable to me.' Joanna Dematatis, a friend from childhood: 'These callous men took from the world a bright, innocent life, someone who devoted himself to encouraging others, lifting them up, and leading with heart. For what? A Gucci bag? A pair of Nikes? Their senseless greed and lack of humanity is sickening.' John's best friend, Lauren Doyle: 'The men with him could have called 911 — but instead they used their phones to film John dying. I don't have the words to describe how difficult it was to watch my friend turn blue, unable to breathe, unable to move — completely helpless . . . The extreme disregard for life and utter lack of empathy shown to John in his last moments were shocking. Advertisement 'And yet, had John not suffered as he did, I strongly believe we wouldn't be sitting here today contemplating justice for this case. Gay men were being hunted for sport, and it wasn't until John's death that detectives and prosecutors began to connect the dots. His murder exposed a pattern of violence that had gone unnoticed for far too long.' It's true that without the perseverance of his mother and Detective Rose, the predators would have continued their evil game, and other people likely would have died. The system worked this time.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Slippery slope': How will Pakistan strike India as tensions soar?
Islamabad, Pakistan – On Wednesday evening, as Pakistan grappled with the aftermath of a wave of missile strikes from India that hit at least six cities, killing 31 people, the country's military spokesperson took to a microphone with a chilling warning. 'When Pakistan strikes India, it will come at a time and place of its own choosing,' Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a media briefing. 'The whole world will come to know, and its reverberation will be heard everywhere.' Two days later, India and Pakistan have moved even closer to the brink of war. On Thursday, May 8, Pakistan accused India of flooding its airspace with kamikaze drones that were brought down over major cities, including Lahore and Karachi. India confirmed the drone assault, but said it was responding to a provocation from Pakistan — missiles and drones launched towards cities and air defence systems in India and Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denied that charge, and subsequent accusations of missile and drone attacks on parts of Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday night. With Pakistan denying any missile or drone strikes against India, Chaudhry's warning of upcoming retribution remains alive, hovering over the 1.6 billion people of South Asia, 17 days after armed gunmen killed 26 male civilians in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, triggering the current escalation. Experts say how Pakistan responds will likely be shaped by its desire to demonstrate that it can hurt India, without pushing the crisis over the edge into a full-blown conflict. 'We are still far away from a war, but we are much closer than we were 24 hours ago,' said Christopher Clary, assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany. Clary said that the next 'logical escalatory' step for both countries might be to target each other's military bases. 'We have already seen this with air defence-focused strikes,' Clary told Al Jazeera, referring to the Indian drone attacks that tried to target Pakistani radar systems overnight on May 7-8, and New Delhi's claims that Pakistan launched missiles and drones towards its military facilities. 'But I fear other strikes are likely in the next 24 hours. I think we are still several days from de-escalation,' Clary said, adding that more deaths are likely. India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads since gaining independence from British colonial rule in August 1947, especially over the scenic Kashmir Valley in the northwestern subcontinent. Both control parts of it, with China in control of two thin slices. India claims all of Kashmir, while Pakistan claims all of Kashmir except the parts held by China, its ally. They have fought multiple wars over Kashmir. The last major escalation occurred in February 2019, when India accused Pakistan of supporting armed groups responsible for a suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian soldiers in Pulwama, in Indian-administered Kashmir. In response, India crossed the border for the first time since the 1971 war, launching air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan's northwest, claiming to have hit 'terrorist infrastructure' and having killed 'hundreds of fighters'. Pakistan countered that the area was a forest and reported no casualties. It responded the next day with its own fighter jets, leading to a dogfight and the downing of an Indian jet. The captured pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, was later returned to India, easing tensions. Kamran Bokhari, senior director at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC, called the current situation 'much more dangerous' than in 2019. India, he said, appeared to be locked into an 'escalatory spiral'. 'In case Pakistan makes a move, India will respond and up the ante,' he said. 'This is a new situation for Pakistan. For the military to say that it will respond in a time of its own choosing suggests they want to think it through, to strike in a manner that does not lead to escalation. But how that materialises is a function of capability and constraint.' It took India 12 days to respond to the Pulwama killings with the Balakot strike in 2019. In the current conflict, the Indian response took even longer, 15 days, via 'Operation Sindoor,' which struck multiple Pakistani cities, including ones in Punjab, close to the Indian border. Some analysts argue that while Pakistan has so far calibrated its response diplomatically and militarily, the drone strikes on Thursday morning marked a 'serious escalation'. 'The military is expected to respond in a manner that is firm and resolute, drawing on both public and political support. The scale of Pakistan's response will be quite telling,' said Arsla Jawaid, associate director at global consulting firm Control Risks, while speaking to Al Jazeera. She said Pakistan is likely to opt for precision strikes targeting Indian military assets while avoiding civilian casualties. 'This could issue a decisive response while minimising further escalation. The latter will be a critical calculation in any Pakistani response,' she added. Sahar Khan, a Washington, DC-based security analyst focused on South Asia, agreed that Pakistan will 'definitely' respond. Khan said India had crossed several 'red lines,' including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty after the Pahalgam attack, and launching missile and drone attacks. The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), mediated by the World Bank and signed in 1960, governs the distribution of Indus River waters, critical for millions across the subcontinent, particularly in Pakistan. 'The question is, what will they [the Pakistani military] target? That will determine the escalation dynamics and the eventual off-ramps,' she told Al Jazeera. 'I think Pakistan will retaliate, showcasing its military capabilities. Its defence systems remain intact, and that is an added incentive to respond,' Khan added. With brinkmanship at its peak and both sides locked in aggressive posturing, the greatest fear remains that even a small miscalculation could lead to a fully fledged war between two nations with more than 150 nuclear weapons each. Bokhari warned that India's strikes in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and prosperous province, marked a dangerous precedent. 'By attacking Punjab, which was almost unthinkable, India has now made this the new normal. This is a real slippery slope,' he said. Jawaid concurred, noting that drone strikes on Pakistani urban centres also suggest a shift in red lines. 'That opens the door to a sustained and heightened risk of escalation, which is deeply problematic due to the risk of miscalculation on both sides. We are in a case of who blinks first,' she said. But Khan believes that there are a few potential off-ramps. 'The first is the international community, such as the US, China, and Russia, urging restraint. The second is for India and Pakistan to show willingness to redefine red lines, like India agreeing to the IWT again and Pakistan agreeing not to strike Indian military targets,' she said. Jawaid, however, warned that even if India and Pakistan avoid a war, their already deeply strained equation has changed – there's a new normal that will define it. 'The longer this is sustained, the more challenging it becomes,' she said. 'The bilateral relationship is already fraught with heightened tensions, which will continue even if the current conflict settles down, especially due to unresolved issues around natural resources and Kashmir, which remains a flashpoint.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Uplifting for the morale': Hendersonville mayor apologizes to fire department for recent drama
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Upset with their mayor, Hendersonville firefighters and their supporters packed into the city's council meeting on Tuesday to push for pay raises. 'The police deserve what they had [a raise], but so does the fire department,' said one speaker. 'Yes, this is what we signed up for, but we also came to this job thinking the city of Hendersonville had our back and would pay us a fair living wage so we don't have to work another job,' said a Hendersonville firefighter. PREVIOUS | Hendersonville firefighters call out mayor, claim 'personal vendetta' toward their department Four other fire associations showed up to support HFD on Tuesday: Wilson County, Dickson County, Murfreesboro and Gallatin. Public comment lasted over an hour and, in the end, Mayor Jamie Clary took the microphone and apologized for the recent drama. 'We've got an exceptional fire department, one of the best in the state. I had more to say and, honestly, some corrections to make. But I want to move forward. I appreciate the firefighters, I really really do. I'm prepared to respond to everything that's been said, but I think I need to say nothing more than: I'm truly sorry,' said Clary. 'I want peace, we all want peace, and I will work harder and more deliberately for peace.' This tension between Mayor Clary and the Hendersonville Fire Department has been building for some time, boiling over after the mayor's State of the City address earlier this month. MARCH 2025: Hendersonville approves pay raises for entire police department While stating their support for Hendersonville police and the raises they recently received, Hendersonville Fire believes they deserve more respect from the city. An apology from the mayor is a good first step. 'It's so uplifting for the morale of our firefighters association,' said Matt Elliott, vice president for Hendersonville's Firefighters Association. 'There's still a lot of work to be done, and we plan to hold [Clary] to that. But we appreciate the mayor validating our anger… we're looking forward to where it goes from here.' Where it goes from here is, likely, budget discussions with the city to sort out how HFD can see a raise in the next year. Hendersonville has their next budget workshop in early May. ⏩ One key figure who has remained silent throughout this funding feud: longtime fire chief Scotty Bush. 'I've been the fire chief for 10 years in May, and my focus has always been on my staff and the citizens of the City of Hendersonville. And I will never stray from that,' Chief Bush told News 2. Bush did not speak in direct response to Mayor Clary's apology. Instead, he praised his department for their continued 'professionalism and integrity.' 'We got 122 in the department, counting myself. I would match their skills, their interpersonal skills, their abilities to do their jobs, against anybody in the state,' Bush said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
